Tag Archives: procratination

It is time for “Bring Your Own Headline” on our Twitter chat, #KaizenBiz this coming Friday. It is always fun to see what community members bring for discussion. If you would like to bring something for us to talk about, simply bring the link and a question. Here are three topics, procratination, Satya Nadella and holacracy, to get us started…

Procrastination is good?

Most of us probably squirm a bit when we think of tasks we are avoiding.However, according to a two books reviewed in Fast Company, we would be much better off if we did procrastinate more. There is a catch to this though. If you are just procrastinating without a purpose, the books’ authors agree that this is laziness. Both Frank Partnoy and John Perry recommend “structure procrastination.” Here are their reasons why procrastination can be useful:

Structured procrastinators get more done. While they put off one task, they complete others.

Procrastinator make better decisions. During the delay, there is more time to think through the options and gather information.

Procrastination leads to creativity. A task that is too hard to complete might need a different process.

Unnecessary tasks disappear. Busy work is pointless and avoiding it allows for space to take on the important tasks.

Procrastination leads to better apologies. Again, time to think is built into the delay and then the best words can be found.

Procrastination gives you insight. Sometimes we put things off because we have an unconscious reason driving our behavior. The delay can illuminate this unconscious reason.

When do you see procrastination as being useful?

How is procrastination connected to decision fatigue and difficulty maintaining self-control?

With procrastination, are we really seeking time to think with putting off tasks?

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s new CEO

With Steve Ballmer stepping down this month, there is a new CEO for Microsoft. Satya Nadella. Before Ballmer stepped down, he had announced that Microsoft would go in a new direction. Ballmer is certainly noted for his ebullient personality With the choice of Satya Nadella, Nadella is known as a quiet but business-savvy person with a strong engineering background. Quite a number of people describe Nadella as inclusive and able to get people engaged and excited in their work. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft not only responds to the current market but introduces its own new ideas.

Why do you suppose Microsoft chose to go with Satya Nadella rather than someone similar to Steve Ballmer?

What’s next for Microsoft?

And just what is holacracy?

Just when you thought you had a good grasp of the latest business structure terms, here comes a new one. Holacracy is “a self-governing, purpose-driven business structure that reassigns authority and responsibility based on the task at hand.” Companies that are able to respond positively to the current marketplace need to be agile and use collaboration among other tools.

This business structure has no CEO or managers. Each person is a partner with complete autonomy and authority. On Holacracy One, they write, “Everyone becomes a leader of their roles and a follower of others’, processing tensions with real authority and real responsibility, through dynamic governance and transparent operations.” This is to encourage project ownership and accountability instead of keeping people limited to their departments or skill set. Governance of organizations that use holacracy have a more democratic approach to make decisions, respond to “tension” and design rules to contain certain personalities from dominating the whole. Data is used actively in strategic planning and decision-making.

What size organization could benefit the most from using holacracy as their business structure?

What sorts of advantages do you see for organizations that do use holacracy?

What could be the disadvantages?

Now it’s your turn

Join us on the Twitter chat, #KaizenBiz, this Friday, February 7, 2014 at 5pm GMT/12pm ET/9am PT with a post that caught your attention this week. Connect with Elli St.George Godfrey (@3keyscoach) jas the chat starts and let her know your link and your question. She will add your topic to the discussion.

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